Posted in: Netflix, TV | Tagged: Alison Schapker, Altered Carbon, anthony mackie, bleeding cool, cable, canceled, joel kinnaman, laeta kalogridis, Richard K. Morgan, streaming, television, tv

Altered Carbon Canceled After 2 Seasons As Netflix Goes Sleeveless

Looks like time's run out for the sci-fi cyberpunk series Altered Carbon as Netflix decided not to renew for a third season, according to Deadline Hollywood. The eight-episode second season starred Anthony Mackie was released on February 27 followed by an animated feature Altered Carbon: Resleeved on March 19. The report said the network made the decision in April and wasn't related to the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic rather the streamer's metric of standard viewership vs. cost renewal review process. Netflix recently announced two-pandemic related cancellations in The Society and I Am Not OK With This.

Created by Laeta Kalogridis, Altered Carbon is based on the 2002 Richard K. Morgan novel of the same name. Mackie took over the role of Takeshi Kovacs in season two from Joel Kinnaman, who played him through season one. Kalogridis was showrunner on season one while Alison Schapker ran season two. Kovacs is the lone surviving soldier of a group of elite interstellar warriors, continuing his centuries-old quest to find his lost love Quellcrist Falconer (Renée Elise Goldsberry). In the world of Altered Carbon, people are able to assume new identities in new bodies retaining the memories of their former lives when their current bodies die.

The series' second season was better received than its previous according to Rotten Tomatoes. Despite Altered Carbon's enriched visuals, its high production costs ended up meeting a similar fate to another ambitious sci-fi series Sense8 from The Wachowskis. Netflix canceled the series shortly following the release of season two. Given the series following, the network came to an agreement with the pair to provide fans a more definitive ending with a two-and-a-half-hour finale as a compromise to the scrapped season three. Could it find life at another home? Not sure how many other networks are willing to foot the production budget of the series.

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